Meesho, the Indian e-commerce platform, has announced that it has laid off 15 percent of its workforce. These layoffs come after the company faces economic uncertainty in the market. Meesho has offered a severance package to the laid-off employees which includes a salary of 2 months and an added month of payment for each year of their service.
Commenting on this, Vidit Aatrey, Founder, Meesho, said, “Even as we tracked our plans, the macro climate undeniably and considerably changed. As a result, we have had to accelerate our timeline to profitability as part of Project Redbull, while readjusting our GMV growth goals to 30 percent YoY”.
He added, “While our cash reserves buffer us well for these harsh circumstances, we need to stay highly prudent on the cost front.”
The company expressed on being contacted, the spokesperson said: “We have taken a difficult decision to part ways with 251 Meeshoites constituting 15 percent of the employee base, as we look to work with a leaner organizational structure to achieve sustained profitability.”
Aatrey wrote an email to the employees he laid off about the decision. He said, “We are reducing the size of the Meesho workforce by 15 percent, affecting 251 employees.”
These layoffs have impacted employees working in different departments such as customer support, product development, and logistics.
The Bengaluru-based startup Meesho was founded in 2015 by Yash Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal. The startup emerged as one of India’s fastest-growing e-commerce platforms which enables small businesses and individuals to sell products via social media platforms including WhatsApp and Facebook.
The startup faced challenges in recent months when COVID-19 hit as it disrupted supply chains and led to a decline in consumer spending.
